Timber mower



Feb.. 8, 1944. v P. GRzl-:LAK .2,341,035

TIMBER MOWER Filed Sept. 30. 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l feier 'izeZ l Feb. 8, 1944,

P. GRZELAK 2,341,035

TIMBER MOWER Filed Sept. 50, 1942 2 Sheets-SheetZ l Inde/nio@ Patented Feb. 8, '1944 j UNITED STATESI PATENT OFFICE TIMBER MoWER Peter Grzelak, Buyck, Minn.

Application September 30, 1942, Serial No. 460,271

3 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for felling trees and more particularly to tree-felling machines of the type in which a saw is mounted upon a portable truck so that lit may be moved from place to place and brought into position for sawing through the trunk of a tree. or a stump. Such machines are adapted to be used upon farms for clearing the land of small timber or may be used for commercial logging operations.

` An important object of my invention is to provide in a tree-felling machine of the above character-which I term a timber mower-means for slldably shifting the saw,N blade outwardly and the saw blade being broken away for clearness;

members taut and in driving engagement with I its pulleys or sprockets in all positions of the saw blade.

The invention has as another object to provide in a machine of the above character, a mouth provided upon the truck in `advance 0f the saw blade for engaging the trunk of a tree and more accurately positioning the truck with respect to the tree.

Still another objectof the invention is to pro-A vide vin a. machine of the above character a boom operatively connected to asource of power and so constructed and arranged that it may be swung into engagement with and apply leverage to the tree being felled to topple the tree away from the truck. To further aid in laying the tree down in predetermined position upon the ground there may be advantageously provided a pair of guide members at the forward end of the truck adapted to flank opposite sides of the tree and prevent it from falling sidewise.

The invention has as a further object to provide in a machine ofthe above character means Figure 4 isa vertical cross-sectional, view through the forward end of the' truck on the line li-t of Fig. 2;

Figure 5 is la vertical cross-sectional view through an intermediate portion of thetruck on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of the shoe at the top of the boom for engaging a tree.

In the drawings is illustrated a timber mower comprising a truck I, the forward end of which is provided with wheels 2 individually supported in spring hangers 3, the rear of the truck being equipped with a coupling 4 for connection to the front end of a tractor T. The coupling comprises an eye bar 5 adapted to t within a clevis 6 and be detachably held by a coupling pin 1,

the eye bar and clevis being pivoted about horizontal axes at right angles to each other to provide a universal connection so that the truck has freedom of movement with respect to the tractor. i

, The body of the truck comprises a fiat upper platform 8 and a fiat lower platform 9, preferably Y made of wood and rigidly connected'by upright and transverse framing members I0 extending for attaching the truck to an automobile truck about the sides of the truck. The framing is covered by light sheet metal Il to close the sides of cular saw blade I4. This shaft passes through aligned openings provided in slide blocks I5 and I6 (see Fig. 4). These blocks have upper and lower plates lia, |51) and I6a,^l6b respectively overlying the side edges of guideways I 1 and I8 cut in the upper and lower platforms s and 9 and leading off from the mouth I2 lengthwise of the truck. The upper end of the shaft I3 extends above the slide block I5 and has a pulley I 9 keyed thereon. The weight of the shaft, saw blade and pulley is sustained by an antifriction bearing resting in a stirrup-2I secured to the under face of the slide block I6. v Clearance slots 22 (Fig. 3) are provided to allow the saw blade to pass into and out of the housing provided by the hollow truck body.

For shifting the saw blade inwardly and outwardly along the pair of guideways, there is provided a horizontal rack-bar 23, one end of which is provided with an opening for passing the vertical shaft I3 and its opposite end slidably reposing within a channel member 24, supported on a spacing block 25. A bracket 26 secured at one end to the rack bar and having its other end encircling the shaft I3 prevents anytendency of the shaft to tilt out of vertical position. A pinion 2l fixed upon an adjusting shaft 28 extending crosswise of the truck engages rack teeth 29.

The adjusting shaft 28 is mounted in bearings 30 supported in the side framing I0 0f the truck body, and to one end of the shaft projecting beyond the side of the truck is fixed a wheel 3I (see Fig. 5). To the end of the adjusting shaft projecting outwardly from theother side of the truck is fastened a hand crank 32 for turning the adjusting shaft. provided with a ring 33 having spiral ribs 34 engaging correspondin-gly formed recesses 35 in a cam plate 36. This cam plate is secured to the lower face of an arm 31 overhanging the Wheel and forming part of a slide block 31a shiftable within a guideway 58 cut in the upper platform 8 of the truck body in a direction transversely thereof. Plates 39 and 39a are attached to the slide block so as to overlie the marginal edges of the guideway upon the upperl and lowersides ofv -the platform. A belt-tensioning roller 40 is' rotatably mounted upon a spindle shaft 4I extending vertically upward from the slide block 31a.

Adjacent the rear end of the truck is a drive shaft 42 extending crosswise of the truck and rotatably journaled in bearings 4 3 attached to the platform 8 (see Fig. 2). Keyed to the shaft 42 is a pulley 44. Power is transmitted from this pulley to the saw by means of an endless flexible belt 45 which extends around pulleys I9 and 40 and over a xed idler pulley 46 rotatablymounted upon an upright spindle 4'I so located on the upper platform as to lead one flight of the belt 45 back in approximately parallel relation with the `other flight in the vicinity of the pulley 44.

A second pulley 48 secured upon shaft 42 is connected by a driving belt 49 to a power takeoff mechanism M arranged at the front end of the tractor T. One form of power take-off mechanism which may be advantageously employed in connectionwith my timber mower is disclosed in Patent No. 1,656,700 of Alfred J. Ersted, dated January 17, 1928, this patent being cited merely by way lof example. In this particular embodiment of my invention the belt 49 driving the saw winds over a pulley 5l) mounted on a driving shaft at the front end of the tractor, this driving shaft being operated from the engine of the tractor. A roller R applies yielding pressure to the driving belt 49 to maintain the belt tight regardless of changes in position'of the truck relative to the' tractor.

For eterting pressure against the tree being felled either during or following the sawing operation, there is provided a boom 5I having at its The wheel 3| is circumferentially top an arcuate shoe 52 adapted to abut against the side of a tree at a point located a substantial distance above the plane of out. The lower end of the boom is encased within a socket 53 (Fig. 4)

and this socket fits between a pair of upwardly extending arms 54 of a. bed block 55 bolted to the upper platform 8. A pin 56 extends through aligned openings in the arms 54, the socket 53 and the boom to provide a pivotal support for the boom about which the boom may be swung into and out of tree-engaging position. A removable locking pin 65 is adapted to be inserted through aligned openings in the bed block and the boom to maintain the boom in raised position for a purpose later to be explained.

In order to clear the belt 45 traversing the upper platform 8, the bed block 55 is supported on a rail 56a extending crosswise of the truck and ,resting on posts 5'I at opposite sides of the truck. An operating cable 58 is intermediately anchored to the boom adjacent its top, one run of the cable passing downwardly from the boom and passing around a guide pulley 59 rotatably mounted'upon a bracket iron 60 fixed to the platform 8 at the front of the truck and straddling the mouth opening I2. then led rearwardly under rail 56a and over shaft 42. The .other run of the cable, from the top of the boom, is led rearwardly at an elevation above the shaft 42. The ends of the cables are wound around a drum 62 of the power take-off mechanism M on the tractor, and this drum is adapted to be operatively connected throu-gh a suitable clutch with the driving shaft 5I of the take-off.

A pair of horns 63 are pivoted'to the platform 8 at the forward end of the truck upon opposite sides of the mouth I2 and are adapted to be swungT outwardly so as to slightly clear the circumference of the'tree trunk. Clamping nuts 64 are provided to retain the horns in adJusted position.

swung outwardly to flank opposite sides of the tree and secured in position by the clamping nuts 64.

As the shaft 42 is rotated through its connection with the power take-off M of the tractor T, the saw blade I4y is likewise rotated by the transmission belt 45 which winds around pulleys 44, I9, 40 and 46. The operator, by manually turning the crank 38, rotates the adjusting shaft 28 to which the pinion 21 is affixed, and this pinion through its engagement with the teeth cn rack bar 23 shifts the saw blade outwardly into cutting engagement with the tree. At the same time the wheel 3l secured to the end of shaft 28 operates, through engagement of itswspiral, ribs 34 with the complementary recesses inth cam plate v 36, to shift the roller 40 inwardly toward the center of the truck to play out additional belt to compensate for the outward movement of the saw-driving pulley I9.

`After the tree has been cut a substantial distance through, the drum '62 of the power take-off M on the tractor T is operated to exert a pull on the cable 58 in such a direction as to move the boom outwardly. The shoe 52 presses the tree This run of the cable is v' ressure from the saw blade and also to nally lush the tree down in prearranged location with Iespect to the truck, the horns preventing sidevise movement of the tree during the initial stage lf its fall.

After the tree has been felled, the saw blade is; letracted into the truck body and the truck may" )e'moved by the tractor to a new location. Someyimes in pushing the timber mower over thev :round a stump or boulder will be encountered vhich the truck cannot'clear. In such cases, thea` ocking pin 65 is inserted in the base ofzthe boom ,o retain the boom in upright fixed position, and?.

)y suitably operating the drum 62 of the power, ,ake-ofi.' M, the truck is raised about its coupling l with the tractor tovlift the truck over the ob- ;truction.

It will be understood that instead of a circular saw, any other suitable type of saw-such as a,

reciprocating saw or a band saw, for example--4 nounted' on said shaft` for rotation in a. horizontal plane and a slide block supporting said shaft, ar flexible transmission member adapted io be connected to a source of power for driving said shaft, a roller. engaging said transmission nember and shiftable.` transversely of the direction of sliding movement of the slide block for taking; up slack in the transmission member, and meansl for simultaneously shifting said slide block and said roller to lengthen or shorten the effective length of. thetransmission member in accordance with changes in position of the saw, said slide block and roller shifting means comprising an adjusting; shaft extending transversely of the truck',` means. for rotating the adjusting shaft', a pinion. fixed upon said adjusting Vshaft engaging a rack bar connected to the slide block, a wheel securei'll to:l said adjusting shaft provided with a circumferential cam face and an arm rotatably supporting said roller and having a cam plate engaging the cam face of the wheel.

2. A timber mower comprising a. portable truck, a circular saw mounted adjacent an end of the truck for sliding movement in a horizontal plane longitudinally of 'the truck, a flexible transmission member operatively connected to said saw and adapted to be connected to a source of power for driving the saw, a tensioning roller mounted on said truck engaging the transmission member for taking up slack, said tensioning roller being mounted for shifting movement transversely of the truck. an adjusting shaft rotatably supported v upon said truck, means for rotating said adjusting shaft, means upon said shaft for slidably adjusting the saw-'and additional means upon said adjusting shaft for simultaneously adjusting the roller.

3. The combination with a tractor having a power-driven drum thereon, of va timber mower comprising a portable truck, eluniversal coupling connecting the rear end of said;truck with the tractor, a saw located adjacent-the front of said truck and means for shifting, said saw inwardly and outwardly of said truck in;` a generallyA horizontal plane,` an upright boom-1 located adjacent v the front of the truck amiav cable extending between the top of the boomandathe drum, whereby said truck may be liftedahout, its universal coupling by operating the drum..

PETER GRZELAK. 

